Just a Touch
by foggynelson'sluscioushair
Summary: Drabbles. A touch can mean a lot of different things - but what do the touches between Beast Boy and Raven of the Teen Titans mean?
1. Chapter 1

"'Morning, Raven!" Beast Boy said as he plopped down onto the stool next to hers, his breakfast bowl absolutely overburdened with Lucky Charms. A bit of rainbow-colored soy milk sloshed out of the bowl and onto the counter near her hand. Instinctively, she shifted herself further away from him and the breakfast catastrophe waiting to happen. _Oh Azar, of course he would choose to sit here. I swear, if he makes my head ache any worse..._

"Good morning," she murmured, trying to turn her attention back to her book of Edgar Allan Poe poetry and her mostly-finished breakfast toast. However, like most humans, she couldn't keep her eyes off of a train wreck, so she ended up watching in distaste as he began shoveling the processed cardboard and mystery fluff into his mouth. In return, he seemed to noticed the wry pull of her mouth and grinned at her, a marshmallow stuck to his chin. She winced and pointed it out to him. Beast Boy quickly picked it off and tossed it into his mouth.

Utterly disgusted, she closed her book and shifted in her seat to leave, but suddenly she felt the strange pressure of a hand on her shoulder. She startled, not used to being touched, and turned to glare at Beast Boy, whose marshmallow-picking hand now rested firmly inside her accustomed bubble of space.

"Yes?" she growled, brushing his hand off and standing up to leave.

"I – I was just wondering if you were feeling alright. You seem – well, not quite yourself. Y'know?"

"No, I don't know," she snapped. Silence tensed between them as he continued to stare up at her, and she stared hard at the counter top, racking her brain to figure out how he had figured it out. Maybe she wasn't as good at stifling her emotions as she thought she was. At the thought, she pinched the bridge of her nose and silently recited her mantra. To be read so easily, and by someone like Beast Boy, was not what she wanted. "I just have a headache. It's nothing serious."

"Well, I hope you feel better. Do you want some tea? Some medicine? Maybe you should take a walk? I don't really get headaches, so I don't know what would help, but maybe I could…"

"Beast Boy!" She cut him off before his rambling could exponentially increase her headache. "I think – some tea sounds nice." She sighed. "And then a nice, quiet, dark room."

"Gotcha!" he cried as he leaped up, almost knocking over the rest of his cereal. "You just rest for a sec. I'll get it for you!"

Apprehension filled her, but she decided to sit back and watch what she was sure would be a disaster. Images of water boiling over the kettle, tea leaves strewn across the room, and second degree burns all over his body filled her mind. And she really wasn't in the mood to heal anybody at the moment.

But, surprisingly, before she even knew what was happening, he was setting a cup of tea in front of her, smiling and only waving one slightly burnt finger in the air. "Your tea, Madame," he said with a low bow, backing away and pretending to twiddle a mustache like some French chef of TV.

She cautiously lifted the tea and took a sip; it was a little over-steeped, but otherwise, perfectly adequate. The beverage warmed her as it slid down her insides, and she found a small smile hijacking the corners of her lips. "Thanks, Beast Boy," she said. The two sat in a companionable silence for a long moment before Raven stood again, turned, and made her way out of the room. Beast Boy's " _Tea_ you later!" followed her up the stairs and out the door, and although she couldn't help but roll her eyes, she also couldn't help but smile.

* * *

He sensed that something was off while he was pouring Lucky Charms into his bowl. His ears picked up a near-silent sigh, and his animal instincts alerted him to some kind of pain. As always when it came to situations involving Raven, he felt a twinge of fear. He had felt the keen edge of her wit, and her powers, more times than he could count. Not only that, but he could sense some kind of deep darkness within her. Whether it was his animal senses that told him this, or some sense of empathy, he didn't know. But no matter how he felt, he always tried to do for her what he did for everyone else; include her, entertain her, and make her laugh.

Beast Boy was so caught up in his thoughts about Raven that he didn't notice how much cereal he was pouring into the bowl until it started spilling over the sides. "Whoops!" He stared at it forlornly for half a second before shrugging and pouring in a generous helping of soy milk. _The more the merrier._

He purposefully chose the seat right next to Raven, plucking up his courage and greeting her as warmly as he could. She only shifted away from him. _Typical. Oh, well._ He indulged himself in his cereal for a minute before addressing the elephant in the room. Without thinking about it very much, he reached out and touched her on the shoulder to get her attention. It was a natural thing for him – Rita, if not Mento, had been very affectionate to him as he grew up, and he had it in his head that everybody wanted to be comforted by a touch.

Her eyes, tinged slightly with demonic red, snapped to his, but he held his ground, even as she brushed his hand away. "Yes?" she demanded.

"I – I was just wondering if you were feeling alright. You seem – well, not quite yourself." Suddenly he doubted his instincts. Maybe she was fine, and he was just overthinking things, or making a mess of them as usual. "Y'know?" he offered, halfheartedly hopeful.

"No, I don't know." Silence rested between them like that unpleasant relative that you desperately want to kick out of your house at Christmastime. He continued to stare at her, racking his brain to figure out how to come back from offending her. There was a part of him that desperately wanted to be friends with her, and that part of him was taking over. So, when she said, "I just have a headache. It's nothing serious," he was overjoyed to have found an opportunity to get back in her good graces. His mouth took over, trampling over his mind in a rush to assist her.

"Well, I hope you feel better. Do you want some tea? Some medicine? Maybe you should take a walk? I don't really get headaches, so I don't know what would help, but maybe I could…"

"Beast Boy!"

He halted mid-speech, mentally smacking himself. He knew she hated it when he rambled.

"I think – some tea sounds nice. And a nice, quiet, dark room."

"Gotcha!" he cried as he leaped up. "You just rest, I'll get it for you!"

 _Okay, okay, you got this, Beast Boy. You've watched her make tea a hundred times. Just turn on the kettle – get a cup – put in the teabag – okay, it's green, that means it's ready? – pour it in the – OUCH! Shake it off, shake it off – in the cup it goes, and then wait – okay, that looks pretty good. Now don't mess this up._

He set the cup of tea carefully in front of her, giving her his warmest smile – the one he had practiced in front of the mirror countless times. "Your tea, Madame," he said with a low bow, backing away and pretending to twiddle a mustache.

He was delighted to see the slight upturn of her lips after she sipped the tea – it made him think of those time-lapse videos of flowers blooming during the sunrise. There was silence between them again, but this time it was a welcome silence – it was the goofy, lovable uncle you don't want to see leave at the end of Christmas.

So he was a little sad when Raven got up to move, but he also felt like it was the perfect time to try out a pun to make her laugh – his last-ditch effort of the morning. " _Tea_ you later!" he called after her. He couldn't really tell if she was laughing or not, but it was okay – he knew that she thought he was funny.


	2. Chapter 2: Not the Comic Book Store!

A/N: Welcome to the second Just a Touch drabble! It's finally Mid-Autumn Festival/National Day break here in China, so I got a chance to focus on some writing! But my God, is it hard to just... write. Phew! Anyways, thanks to Golem XIV, BBReyven15ww, and PonyLoverGirl101 for reviewing - it means a lot. Enjoy! :)

* * *

 **Not the Comic Book Shop!**

The coffee shop on Main Street was bustling for a Monday. It was a national holiday, so while the shop would normally have one or two customers during its afternoon hours, it was now bursting with people. Patrons filed in and out of the door and filled both the indoor and outdoor seating. There were people ordering, sipping, chatting, and reading. Soft jazz and the low hum of conversation filled the atmosphere, but to Raven's focused mind, everything was just background noise. Sitting in the very back corner of the shop, she felt the vague pushing of presence and sound at the edge of her consciousness, but she was lost in her novel.

The pages flew through her fingers as she raced to the end of the book – she had been working on it that whole morning, and she had reached the best part of the novel. She could feel the climax nearing, nearing, nearing – and then, a twist! Her heart jumped as she read the unexpected details, watched the betrayal unfold in her mind's eye… and then jumped again, even higher, as a voice from reality said, "Hello! You're Raven, right?"

Her head was thrown up with the force of her anger at being interrupted at the most emotional part of her story, and the two girls standing before her shrieked as their lattes exploded in their faces. Their eyes stared at Raven, their dark clothing and dyed hair dripping. "Geez, we just wanted to say hi," one said before she turned around and stormed off towards the bathrooms. The other backed away, now glancing everywhere but at Raven. "Uh, I'm sorry for… bothering you." She turned and briskly followed her friend to the bathroom.

Raven was now aware of dozens of pairs of eyes staring at her. Embarrassment, as well as anger and shame, threatened to take control of her mind. She sighed, closed her eyes, focused on her emotions. Then, when her heartbeat finally slowed and the red fog cleared from her brain, she mentally debated whether to simply disappear through a portal in the floor, or get up and walk out of the coffee shop. _Shit. Why can't people just leave me alone when I'm reading? Is it really that hard?_

She finally decided that putting herself through the ordeal of walking out would be better than putting the patrons through the ordeal of seeing her disappear through the floor. Raven stood and picked her book up from off the table, lifted her chin, and strode out of the café and onto the street. It was bustling, yet far less oppressive than the coffee shop had been. She turned right and was about to start walking home when a flash of green hair caught her attention. On closer inspection, she saw Beast Boy sitting on one of the nearby street benches, head cradled in his hands.

"Oh, boy," she muttered, finding herself at another impasse of decision. She could go home to rest her emotions and finish her book in peace, or she could go over and ask Beast Boy what was wrong. Not that she particularly minded a conversation with her teammate – but helping somebody work through emotions was simply much more draining than working through her own emotions.

She was frozen in place for a full minute, just watching Beast Boy sit in despondency. People streamed around both Titans, giving them some odd looks, but largely ignoring the strange heroes who protected them from trouble every now and again.

Finally, Raven moved, walking slowly towards Beast Boy. As she drew up to the bench, her teammate lifted up his head and gave her a small smile. "Hey, Raven. What's up?"

"Hey, Beast Boy. Are – are you okay?" She sat next to him, and the two turned towards each other. "You seem really down."

He chuckled. "Could you feel my emotions from all the way in the coffee shop? Is that why you came out here?"

"Uh, no. I just saw you sitting out here. I'm trying to block out other people's emotions at the moment."

"Oh!" He laughed half-heartedly and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess you would be… Sorry for assuming."

"How did you know I was in the coffee shop, anyway? I didn't tell anyone on the team about that."

"Ever heard of tabloids, Rae? Everyone knows that you go to that coffee shop on Mondays!"

She gave a mild sound of protest, but he ran right over her words.

"Plus, I always see you down here when I go - er, went to the comic shop." The despondent look returned to his face, and his face returned to his hands.

"Comic book shop? You mean the one across the street?" The small, shabby shop front has caught her attention once a couple of years ago when they were having some sort of dress-up experience. She pointed and finally understood Beast Boy's problem as she saw a giant "CLOSED" painted in red on the window. "Oh."

"Yeah, they closed it yesterday. Nobody knows the reason – it's just gone!" Raven was surprised to see tears in the shapeshifter's eyes. "That place was my sanctuary! I had so many good memories there! And now it's gone!"

Raven moved her hand to comfort her friend but moved it back before it touched his hunched back. "It was just a comic shop, Beast Boy. I'm sure there are others around."

"Yeah, sure, but that was my comic shop!"

Raven was unsure of what do to, or say. He seemed really devastated by the loss of a dime-a-dozen comic shop. "Well, I don't think I understand why you're so upset, but…"

Beast Boy turned to look her straight in the face. His eyes were shot with red, his nose was slightly dripping, and his brows were lowered in annoyance. "'Don't understand'? Raven, how would you feel if the bookstore or coffee shop closed down? I know you would be upset! Sure, they're just 'places,' but… I mean, they're kinda like homes! This is where I came to play Magic: the Gathering tournaments! This is where the crew got together to trash the new comic book movies! This is where I read my first Neil Gaiman comic! We go to these places to relax and have fun, and to lose it is like losing a little bit of home." He gave her a challenging look, his tears all but forgotten. "I know we both know what that feels like."

Raven was stunned and silent. He was right. Both about losing a home, and about how upset she would be if her shops were taken away. "I get it," she said softly, looking away.

Beast Boy returned his face to his hands and stared despondently at the closed shop. "Well, we had a good run."

Slowly, Raven let down her emotional walls, and let herself feel a sliver of what Beast Boy was feeling. Her heart ached. She moved her hand so that it was resting on Beast Boy's back. She did her best to take some of his pain, and give him some comfort in return. His eyes flickered over to her for a brief moment, but otherwise, he didn't move. Raven had felt unsure at first, of what his reaction would be – they weren't in battle, she wasn't healing him, she was just reaching out to comfort him, as he had done for her before. But before long, she began to relax and to feel content with her hand resting on him. It seemed to be calming for him, as well, as she continued to read his emotions.

They sat together for a few minutes, just two Titans sharing a vulnerable moment on a street bench, before Beast Boy shifted to sit up, and Raven slowly moved her hand away. "Thanks, Raven," Beast Boy said, flashing her a small, genuine smile.

She turned her face slightly away. "It's nothing."

"Hey, do you want to go get some dessert? There's a killer ice cream shop just down the block that has some awesome selections! They have a great chocolate lava cake!" He elbowed her arm. "Plus, it's the perfect comfort food after a sucky day!"

She scowled, and let him sweat for a moment before she said, "On one condition: you're paying."

He grinned and leaped up, holding out his hand for her. "Sound great! I'm thinking about a strawberry waffle myself. They take a waffle, and roll it up, and stuff it with strawberries and bananas… It's amazing! I get it without whipped cream, of course, being a vegan, but it's still…"

"Oh, Azar! Why do you feel the need to ruin every moment we have?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry! Shall we?"

Raven let herself be led down the street by the babbling Beast Boy, and the two friends, brought closer by a touch, vanished into the Sunset Dessert Shop.

* * *

A/N: Slight edit to the end. I'm horrible at endings. Yay!


	3. Chapter 3: Flu and Friends

Raven felt absolutely miserable.

It turned out that the headache plaguing her for days had been the herald of a terrible strain of the flu. Raven wasn't one of those people who got sick very often, but when she did, all hell broke loose

Due to the stuffiness of her head, the incessant runniness of her nose, the fever draining all of her energy, and the soreness of her throat, she had locked herself away in her room for two days. Starfire and Beast Boy had dropped by multiple times to check on her, and Cyborg and Robin had poked their heads in once or twice; but mostly they let her suffer in solitude, which she greatly appreciated.

The sun had just set over the tower when Starfire, carrying a huge, steaming pot of some food substance, opened Raven's door. The red-headed alien was grinning widely as she floated over to Raven's bedside, where the empath lay surrounded by piles of books and tissues. Raven peered at her friend through red, watery eyes, and emphatically blew her nose. There was a loud pop as a piece of Raven's window cracked. "Starfire, what is that?" Raven croaked.

"Friend Raven, I have prepared for you the traditional meal for sickness on my planet! It is said to instantly cure any sickness a warrior may acquire!" Starfire brought the pot closer to Raven's nose, so that she could get a good whiff of… Garbage? And old onions?

Raven gagged slightly and turned her head away. "Thanks, Starfire," she deadpanned. She knew the alien wouldn't pick up on her tone, but she couldn't help the sarcasm.

Starfire produced a giant stirring spoon. "And I have brought this eating utensil! I have seen on the TV that when people are sick, others may often feed them. Do you also require the assistance in eating, Raven?" Raven watched in horror as Starfire scooped out a large helping of orange goop, and started moving it towards her.

Raven felt trapped. She didn't necessarily want to hurt Starfire's feelings – she was trying to be better about making allowances for others' emotions – but neither did she want to eat whatever Starfire had concocted.

With a loud hiss, Raven's door opened yet again. She could just make out the shadow of a short, pointy-eared figure in the doorway.

Intense relief washed over Raven. She instantly formed a foolproof plan of escape. Ignoring the pain in her throat, she called out, "Beast Boy! What do you want?" She knew there was no way that Beast Boy would resist an invitation to conversation, and hopefully he would be enough of a distraction that Starfire would forget about her "charitable" offer.

"Hey, Raven!" Beast Boy bounded into the room with that energetic confidence which she could never quite understand. "Are you feeling any better?"

Starfire looked up from her task, the spoon halted several inches from Raven's face. "Friend Beast Boy! You have come to check on Raven, as well!"

"Hey, Star!" he greeted her with a friendly smile, pulling up beside the bed. Raven felt a sense of claustrophobia clawing at her; both extroverts were crowding her rather closely.

"Uh, I'm… about the same," said Raven.

"Ugh, Star, what is that?" said Beast Boy at the same time.

Starfire put the spoon back in the pot, and held the pot up closer to Beast Boy's nose. "Oh, it is a delightful cure for any ailment! On my home planet, it is used quite often!"

The shape-shifter plugged his nose and backed up as far as he could. "It smells like gross feet. Are you going to feed that to Raven?"

"Why, yes! I would like to see my friend feeling better as soon as possible."

"I do, too, but I'm not sure that she would like…"

"But surely, if it will heal her sickness…"

"Eh, listen. The last time you fed us that Glopnorg festival pudding or whatever, I totally threw up and didn't feel any happier. Maybe your Tameranean food doesn't work on humans."

Raven began to feel desperate for silence and space, especially when she was feeling so miserable to begin with. She closed her eyes and tried to reign in her emotions, but a burst of frustration cut through her heart and out of her chakra, causing the pot of goop to spontaneously combust all over the trio of Titans.

The three stared at one another in a mixture of disbelief and disgust, pink chunks dripping off their faces and clothes. Starfire had a pile of it on top of her head. She blinked and turned to Raven. "Are you – I will – go and get towels… I am sorry for causing you the trouble." Before anyone could respond, Starfire floated out of the room and disappeared, pot still clutched under her arm.

Beast Boy looked down at Raven with an arched eyebrow. "Dude…"

"Don't you da-" she began, before a wave of vomit began pouring out of her mouth. For a moment, she lost herself completely in the misery of the event. All she tasted or smelled was sour liquid; all she heard was her own retching; all she felt was her hands clutching desperately to the covers. Despair filled her, and shame – how disgusting was this?

Then, as the last of the vomit dribbled out of her mouth, quite a different emotion manifested within her – a comfortable, warm feeling. She became aware of the pressure of Beast Boy's hand on her shoulder, and she peeked over at him to see the concern on his face. He seemed unsure of what to do, but once he realized that she was finished being sick, he reached over to maneuver the comforter into a ball so that the vomit would be contained, then ran the whole ball out of the room. In the minute that he was gone, Raven felt keenly alone. She surmised that her compromised health was also compromising her powers and emotions, and so closed her eyes to re-center herself. "Azarath, Metrion…" she whispered, quite aware of the tears running down her cheeks.

Beast Boy burst back into the room, Starfire hot on his heels.

Beast Boy arrived at her bedside first. In his hands he held a huge wad of napkins, which he held out to Raven. "Idiot," she murmured, taking one out of the bunch to wipe her face.

Beast Boy's face turned a brownish color, and he laid the rest of the napkins next to the tissue box on the nightstand. "Just in case," he said, backing away to make room for Starfire.

The Tamaranean girl helped the shaky Raven to her feet, and the two girls made their way over the bathroom. "Beast Boy, will you please be getting a change of clothes for Friend Raven?" called Starfire over her shoulder.

Beast Boy panicked. "Uh, sure, that is, um, where can I find, um, are you sure it's okay…"

Raven sighed, and with her mind she opened the right drawer and levitated a change of clothes over to herself. "It's fine, Beast Boy. You can go now."

"Oh, okay, alright. Let me know if you need anything!"

Raven waved acknowledgement at Beast Boy's retreating figure.

Starfire giggled. "Friend Beast Boy is quite strange at times."

"Yeah." Raven felt a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth. "But he's a good friend. And… So are you, Starfire."

Starfire grabbed Raven into a monstrous bear hug. "As are you, Raven!"

"Ugh!" croaked Raven. "Star… Please… I can't… Breathe." But even as she complained, that inexplicable smile threatened to turn up her lips. Weird, she thought, then shrugged and put the whole incident out of her mind.


	4. Chapter 4: Into the Void

Beast Boy groaned in frustration as he was sent flying backwards yet again. His head was ringing, thanks to the force of Mammoth's fists, but he still had the presence of mind to morph into a hummingbird before he crashed into the wall of the bank. He noticed Cyborg lying under a pile of rubble nearby, and zipped over to help his friend. Using his gorilla form, he heaved the beams off and helped Cyborg to his feet. "Dude, Cy, are you okay?"

Cyborg groaned and shook his head. "I'll be alright. How are you holding up?"

The two felt a huge presence moving close by, and dodged just as a meaty fist came barreling towards them. Mammoth's hand slammed into the ground where the duo had been seconds before. The HIVE's muscle barely had time to look up and notice Cyborg's sonic canon pointed at his face before he was sent flying into the nearby wall. "Booyah!" yelled Cyborg, looking around for Beast Boy to give him a high five; but his friend was gone.

Seconds earlier, Beast Boy had barrel rolled into another fight: Raven, going toe-to-toe with Gizmo. She seemed mostly to be dodging a barrage of tiny bomb drones, while he was frantically shoveling money into a weird shimmer in the air, which seemed to have the same consistency as pea soup. Beast Boy squinted, trying to figure out what the heck it could be. Then he glanced at Raven, confused as to why she wasn't attacking the tiny genius, before morphing into a lion and charging Gizmo. "You idiot!" he heard Raven yelling at him right before he bounced off a force field. His whole body vibrated with the impact, and his facial area was screaming in pain.

"Not my face," he moaned, closing his eyes and clutching his nose, which hurt more than anything. Somebody was holding his shoulders off of the ground. By cracking open one watering eye, he knew it was Raven. Her eyes were glowing hot white, and he saw that she was projecting her dark force field around the two of them. Tiny explosions showered the shield as the drones tried their best to do them in. He grasped Raven's upper arm. "Is my face okay?" he asked.

"Not the time," she growled, although she brought her fingers up to gently brush his nose. A sharp sting accompanied her touch.

"Owowowow!" he gasped.

"You're fine," she snapped. "It's just bruised. Now listen, I'm going to teleport us inside of Gizmo's force field. You attack Gizmo and break his field and drone control, and I'll retrieve the stolen money. Got it?"

"Uh, sure, just… How do I break the force field?"

"It's obviously the remote control in his hand."

"Oh yeah, duh. Bad guy 101. Blame it on the concussion I just took to the face. All right, let's do this!"

Before he could even finish his statement, Raven wrapped her arm around his waist, and he was once again plunged into the cold ocean of Raven's power. He never got used to this. He gasped for breath and grabbed for the hand that still firmly held him. Although he could see nothing, he felt Raven's fingers gripping him, assuring him that she wouldn't leave him alone in this void.

In a split second, they were out on the other side, and Beast Boy leapt past the folds of Raven's cloak, into the air, and onto Gizmo's shiny bald head.

"Gaaahhhh!" shrieked the genius. "Get off, asshole!"

Beast Boy morphed into a boa constrictor to slip through Gizmo's grasping hands, and, with lightning speed, wrapped himself around his foe's torso. He made sure to include the remote in his squeeze, and with satisfaction felt the technology break into pieces under the pressure. The drones around them – the few left unexploded – dropped to the ground. He saw Raven come back through the pea-soup portal, levitating a huge pile of money. He flickered out his tongue at her since he couldn't speak at the moment, and she answered with a small smirk.

Robin dropped in between them, whirling his bow staff. "Nice job, team! It's jail for you, HIVE Five! Crime never pays!"

Later, when they were heading towards the T-car to go home and enjoy some well-earned food and relaxation, Raven nudged Beast Boy's elbow. "How's your nose?"

He wrinkled it, then winced. "Not bad."

"Really?" she brought her face closer to his suddenly, inspecting the bruises. Beast Boy felt all of the blood rush to his face.

"Shit shit shit," he hissed under his breath, turning away from her. "Come on, let's go!"

He didn't turn back to see her bewildered face, but he did flex his hand. It was almost like he could still feel the ghost of her fingers under his, from back in the void. "What the hell," he murmured before getting into the car.


End file.
